Rice Expands
by MelancholyMadness
Summary: Neji was more confused than he had been in a long time. How could the cooking staff leave him to fend for himself like this?


Rice Expands FF

OWNAGE OF NOTHING!

Neji was more confused than he had been in a long time. How could the cooking staff leave him to fend for himself like this?

It was lunch and the Hyuga staff had gone on strike earlier this week, wanting a slightly larger pay check (something about getting danger pay for waking drowsy Hyuga elders).

That was not important.

What was important was that he had used his last pay check to by Lee a get well present, leaving him no money to buy takeout.

He'd postponed cooking his dinner, and then his breakfast, but the ever present nagging at his stomach wasn't going to fade until he ate something, and that something was his lunch.

His mother had died when he was young, leaving him without memories of her cooking and he'd never watched the kitchen staff cook (they're the _kitchen staff_) so he had no experience with the culinary arts. His stomach protested to finding some sort of master to teach him, so instead, he decided that he'd simply figure it out himself.

He decided to start with making plain, white instant rice.

He'd have had box instructions if there was a box, but it seemed as though the kitchen staff had emptied all of the rice into a clear plastic bag just to spite him.

Because of the lack of the easy instruction manual that should have been present, he estimated. Neji wanted one bowl of rice, so he filled his bowl to the brim (he was very hungry) with dry rice and emptied it into the pot and preceded to empty two bowls filled with water then also emptied it into the pot as well. Neji decided that the hotter the stove was, the faster it would cook, so he turned it up all the way.

With the rice cooking, Neji decided to sit down at a stool in the corner, feeling quite pleased with himself.

After about fifteen minutes, none other than the Hyuga heiress herself walked into the once almost empty kitchen.

She nodded to him and smiled warmly. "How are you today Neji-Niisan?"

"Thank you for your concern, I am fine." He replied, nodding respectfully, his lips curving up.

He and his cousin had begun to get along better now that he had realized how closed minded he had become.

Hinata, noticing the pot, walked toward it, glanced inside briefly, then gestured him over.

Neji was sure that he would receive congratulations at the masterpiece that he had surely created. He faced a harsh reality when she showed him the food briefly, before proceeding to dump it all in the trash can.

He gasped. "Hinata-sama!"

"You use the same amount of water that you do rice."

Neji looked down in the trash to see that his rice had bloated past cooked and there was still more water. And way too much rice as well...

His eyebrows drew together, but he watched obediently as his cousin put about half as much rice that he put into a bowl, then an equal amount of water into the pot.

She turned the knob on full and looked at her fingers, which she began twiddling.

"When the water starts boiling, put the rice in and turn down the stove. When it tastes cooked, cover it up and turn the stove off." She smiled and looked at his befuddled expression.

"There was a surplus amount of rice in the pot that I tried to make." He stated, hoping that she would understand.

She giggled. "Rice expands."

His mouth formed an 'O' as the concept registered.

Neji realized something then. Hinata hadn't laughed at his silly questions and was willing to teach him, while letting him do most of the actual job himself.

"Hinata-sama, will you teach me to cook?" He asked awkwardly.

"Of course! I'd love to!" She answered brightly, blushing, and with that she left the kitchen.

Neji smiled. He felt a lot less confused.

Rice expands...

"That meal was very tasty, oh youthful rival Neji!" Lee declares, finishing his chicken stir fry.

"What the hell!" Tenten exclaimed. "How do you know how to cook?"

Neji smirked. "I'm a prodigy. Of course I can cook." 

This was actually written because my friend Alicia told me to write a Family/Friendship Neji and Hinata fic as a prompt... Personally I think this could also be considered humour, but... If you think I should change it, speak your mind. I also added some Team Gai at the end, 'cause I love them. Check out my Team Gai stuff! I also have a Gaara fic and a Naruto and Kakashi fic. None of these are romance! Sorry, I felt the need to advertise... I went to FanExpo yesterday! I'm exhausted, but it was SO worth it! I might go today again with my uncle!  
>-Ash<p>

READ AND REVIEW!


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